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MUMBAI: Kuala Lumpur-headquartered airline AirAsia has brought forward the start of its domestic operations in India to May-June, a person with knowledge of the development said. The largest Southeast Asian discount carrier had earlier planned to launch its operations in the country towards the end of the current calendar year. "AirAsia is currently preparing a ground so that as soon as the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) clearance comes they should be able to launch operations," the person who did not want to be named, said.

In February, AirAsia had announced a tieup with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace for a scheduled domestic airline. Approval for the joint venture proposal is pending before the FIPB, which approves proposals that require government permission. The matter is likely to come up for a hearing on March 6. The Tata Group will hold 30 per cent in the company and AirAsia will have a 49 per cent stake. The rest will be held by Bhatia. The person quoted above said the airline's top officials met up with India's civil aviation ministry officials and discussed a plan to launch operations early.

The airline, however, denied that group CEO Tony Fernandes was in India last week and that he met Tata Group officials on Monday in Mumbai. Fernandes did not respond to ET's text messages and phone calls regarding the development. The airline, according to the person, has also zeroed in on its key officials for the India operations and would be submitting their names to the Director General of Civil Aviation once the FIPB approval comes through.

In an earlier interaction with ET, Fernandes had said that a candidate has been selected for the CEO's post. The name of Kingfisher Airlines' CEO, Sanjay Agarwal, was doing the rounds but Vijay Mallya, the promoter and chairman of the bankrupt airline, denied the reports. "The DGCA wants the name of the key officials to be in place at the time an application is placed before the regulator for an air operating permit and it's only prudent that these top-level guys are identified," the person said.

There were reports that AirAsia would look to poach pilots from Kingfisher as both airlines have a common aircraft type — the A320. "There are about 32 commanders in Kingfisher right now, and if AirAsia is planning to launch operations with three to four aircraft, many can be absorbed from here," a senior commander with KFA said. "But there is no formal communication from AirAsia yet on this."

AirAsia is planning to compete with the existing low-cost airlines in India on low fares that open at least 90 days prior to the travel date.